1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for securing medical devices to a patient.
2. Description of the Related Art
Medical patients are often in need of repetitious administering of fluids or medications, or repetitious draining of fluids. It is very common in the medical industry to utilize medical tubing to provide various liquids or solutions to a patient. For example, catheters may be used to direct fluids and/or medications into the bloodstream of the patient, or withdraw fluids from the patient. Often, it is desirable to maintain such catheterization or medical tube insertion over an extended period of time during the treatment of a patient. In some instances, a medical article may be attached to a patient for a lengthy period of time, requiring minimal movement for proper functioning.
It is often advantageous to restrict the movement of the medical tube or article, particularly when the medical article is to be administered to the patient over an extended period of time. A medical article that is not securely attached to the patient may move around, which may cause discomfort or injury to the patient, restrict the administering of fluids or medications or the draining of fluids, cause infection, or become dislodged from the patient unintentionally.
It is common for medical providers to affix the medical article to the patient and to attempt to restrict movement of the medical article by taping the medical article to the patient's skin. Medical articles commonly attached in this way include medical lines, luer locks or other types of connectors. Securing a medical article with tape, however, has certain drawbacks.
Tape used to secure a medical article, for example at an insertion site of the medical article on the patient's skin, can collect contaminants and dirt. Such collection of contaminants and dirt can lead to infection. Normal protocol therefore requires periodic tape changes in order to inhibit germ growth. Periodic tape changes may also be necessary when replacing or repositioning the medical article.
Frequent tape changes lead to other problems: excoriation of the patient's skin and adherence of contaminant's to the medical article. Repeated removal of tape can excoriate the skin and cause discomfort to the patient. Additionally, removal of tape can itself cause undesired motion of the catheter device upon the patient and irritation of the patient's skin. Repeated applications of tape over the medical article can lead to the build up of adhesive residue on the outer surface of the medical article. This residue can result in contaminants adhering to the medical article itself, increasing the likelihood of infection. To add to this, residue buildup on the medical article can make the medical article sticker and more difficult to handle for medical providers.
In addition to these drawbacks, tape also fails to limit medical article motion and, therefore, contributes to motion related complications like phlebitis, infiltration and catheter migration. Consequently, there are many problems with using tape to secure a medical article.
It is desirable to avoid directly taping a medical article to a patient. There is a need to provide a simple, yet effective device for securely holding a medical article in place on a patient's skin, while avoiding aggravating the site at which the medical article is mounted. With the increased concern over rising health care costs, there is also a need for simple and less expensive alternatives to safely securing medical articles. Therefore, a need exists for an improved medical article securement system for use with a patient that overcomes the problems associated with current designs.